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Teresa Crawford/ AP Rick McVey, owner of Dilly Lily, positions for a photo at his shop Wednesday, April 26, 2017, in Chicago. If the Trump administration’s strategy to lower tax rates ends up being law, it will likely benefit McVey. The flower shop has a range of possibilities, not simply from the possibility of lower taxes, but that he ‘d get more company from clients who have more money to invest.
Thursday, April 27, 2017|2 a.m.
New York City– Giving workers a raise, buying brand-new equipment. Small-business owners have long wish lists to choose from if the Trump administration’s plan to lower tax rates ends up being law– however most do not expect to go on a working with binge.
Some owners and small business groups hoped the significant cuts in corporate and individual taxes proposed Wednesday could suggest more cost savings to purchase their businesses and more income coming in from consumers and services with some money to invest.
Brian Hart, the sole owner of a public relations company in Philadelphia, said he would reinvest any tax cost savings into Flackable, however doesn’t anticipate to have enough to employ employees. However lower tax rates might give his small company customers more money to invest in marketing, which might imply broadening his staff down the roadway.
“It might ease the tax problem on the business we work with so they could hire a business like hours,” Hart said.
Under President Donald Trump’s proposition, small businesses owners who pay their company taxes at personal tax rates would see their leading rate go from 39.6 percent to the suggested business tax rate of 15 percent. Those owners are sole proprietors, partners or investors in exactly what are called S corporations, or pass-through entities, which under the tax laws are intended to be small or mid-sized companies.
Almost 80 percent of companies are pass-through entities, a survey by the National Small company Association advocacy group discovered this year. The staying companies also stand to get a break on their rates, which would be up to 15 percent from 35 percent.
There are still many unknowns about the Trump proposition, in specific, what changes Congress might make to balance out the drop in tax income that lower rates would likely bring.
And owners aren’t guaranteed a windfall. For something, lots of aren’t making enough to obtain a tax break of $30,000 to $50,000, enough to possibly employ a brand-new staffer. Lots of also are most likely currently at the lower tax rates, which implies they may not gain from the proposition, said Emilio Escandon, a licensed public accountant with the company MBAF in New york city. He keeps in mind, for instance, that the 15 percent rate uses to couples whose gross income– after all reductions and exemptions have been taken– is $75,900, an amount that owners of really small business typically may earn.
A tax cost savings will assist companies’ cash flow, and some will undoubtedly have loan to put toward expansion, whether that suggests working with workers or purchasing equipment, Escandon said. Some owners may choose to pay for their business’ financial obligation or put the cash toward personal uses like moneying kids’s college education, he stated.
Floral designer Rick McVey has a variety of possibilities, not simply from the possibility of lower taxes, but since he may get more business from consumers who have more cash. McVey, owner of Dilly Lily in Chicago, is considering paying his staff more, however may likewise put it back into the business.
“I may be able to invest the cash to buy some capital equipment,” he stated.
Donna Sebusch, owner of Cookie Creations of Atlanta, was pondering comparable options, saying lower taxes could give her the chance with time to perhaps purchase more devices that she requires for the store, employ more individuals, or give her personnel raises.
Dan Golden doesn’t anticipate lower tax rates to considerably change his company; he’s concentrated on revenues, not spending.
“I honestly do not believe we would do anything different in regards to employing,” states Golden, whose Chicago-based business, Be Found Online, assists services utilize web searches and other online methods to increase their sales. However Golden did state that some of any prospective savings might go toward larger benefits for the company’s 60 staffers.
Some small business advocacy groups hoped the proposed changes bring relief to owners in the upper brackets, and in turn assist their companies and the economy.
“The general trend appears to be trying to decrease the rates substantially to obtain company owner spending and buying again,” stated Brad Close, senior vice president for public policy with the National Federation of Independent Organisation.
The National Small Business Association likewise liked the proposition however bewared about exactly what will occur when it reaches Capitol Hill.
“Look at exactly what happened with the healthcare expense,” stated Molly Day, a spokesperson for the group. “I do not know that there’s going to be a lot of optimism that this is going to get done.”
Mark Tuscherer, whose business develops websites and apps, would like to use possible tax cost savings for a hire, however plans to wait and see how his business is doing if when lower rates take effect.
“It truly depends upon how busy we are and exactly what our year is appearing like,” states Tuscherer, co-owner of Geeks Chicago. “It would be a huge benefit, however I couldn’t just leap in.”


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In case you didn't know, Microsoft is set to unveil the successor to the Xbox 360 on May 21st, 2013. The entire gaming world knows Microsoft is planning to release a new console, but gamers are still in the dark on what the next Xbox can really do. Rumors have been circulating for what feels like years, but with conflicting rumors, gamers really have no clue what Microsoft has going on in their super secret labs.
So until that fateful day where the Xbox 720 ( is anyone else sick of calling it that?) is revealed, we at For the Love of Gaming have been talking about what games we would love to see launch with the console. Here are the top games the crew wants to see.

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Zetly is a next generation “all in one sports platform” that bridges the gap between physical sports and the digital world by fueling fan engagement via digital collectibles, NFTs, club tokens and more.
Robert Rice believes that a “Snow Crash-like” metaverse is only five years away, while underlining that only companies building impactful metaverse will survive.
Defiance Media is back to catch up with entrepreneurs, developers, and other personalities in the BSV ecosystem, and now they're focusing on entertainment.
Transmira has "soft-launched" a virtual goods marketplace on its Omniscape XR platform; the team is also inviting users to join its Discord channel to stay updated with their new releases.
Robert Rice’s presentation at GBC in Dubai is the answer to any city developing a Metaverse strategy: Omniscape.
The metaverse has focused on fun and cool new ways to interact, but Rice, through Omniscape, is monetizing the experience through product placement and more.
CoinGeek’s Chief Bitcoin Historian Kurt Wuckert Jr. visits Las Vegas, Nevada, for the CES Tech 2022—a major tech event with some major BSV players in attendance.
The watchdog warned about the various scams in the metaverse, including illegal fundraising for pump-and-dump tokens and overhyped virtual real estate.
CoinGeek’s Patrick Thompson takes us to the CES event in Las Vegas, where he gets a better understanding of what the metaverse will look like, how businesses will interact with it, and more.
The fast food giant has applied for ten metaverse patents, focused on a virtual restaurant that will feature virtual and actual goods and deliver to the customer’s home.
XR platform Omniscape allows users to monetize digital real estate, meaning they can buy a location in the metaverse and earn revenue from paid augmented reality content and advertising.


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Patton Limited manufactures and supplies commercial refrigeration equipment.
Established in 1923 in Christchurch, it was acquired this year by Beijer Ref based in Sweden and combined with another New Zealand manufacturer.
Their company’s highly experienced Chief Executive Officer Sameer Handa continues in an expanded role.
It is a credit to Mr Handa and his management team that the sometimes-difficult change management process has been navigated soundly and that the enlarged group in New Zealand is in good shape to take advantage of new opportunities.
We were also very impressed with the way Patton Limited has more than doubled its business in India in the last five years.
India is the world’s largest producer of milk and also the biggest producer of fruit and vegetables.
Patton Limited sees this as a huge opportunity to grow in this market as the demand for refrigeration accelerates.
We have no hesitation in commending Patton Limited as the Supreme Winner of the Indian Business Awards for 2015.
Steven Joyce with Anthony Healy and Sameer Handa


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Many of the herbal products on Britain's shop shelves still do not contain information required for safe use, a study has found.
Researchers at the University of Leeds purchased 68 different preparations of five remedies - St John's wort, Asian ginseng, Echinacea, garlic and Ginkgo.
The items - all of which are known to have the potential to cause harmful side-effects - were bought in health food stores, pharmacies and supermarkets in the UK.
Analysis revealed that 93 per cent of the products were unlicensed and just 13 per cent provided an information sheet.
The findings, which are published in the journal BMC Medicine, indicate that many herbal products are not covered by a new EU law that came into force in April 2011.
Lead researcher Professor Theo Raynor, who is based at the University of Leeds, said: 'Consumers need reliable and comprehensive information when buying herbal remedies - information which tells them whether the remedy is suitable for them.
'Furthermore, pharmacists and doctors need to be made aware what herbal remedies people are taking so that their patients receive the best possible care.'
Earlier this year, the health secretary announced a new statutory register for herbal medicine practitioners.


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On Location, the official hospitality service provider of the NFL, introduced today its complete experiential offering for guests who acquire tickets to Super Bowl LVI at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.
On Location is supplying 45 various items around Super Bowl LVI and is the sole supplier with accessibility to costs tickets, specific seat places and pre-game friendliness inside the protection border around SoFi Stadium. Followers can concentrate on the moment while On Location sets the stage with costs resort holiday accommodations, travel solutions, live amusement and also distinct adventures to experience Los Angeles all designed to make their Super Bowl fantasizes right into truth. The ticket packages get on the Fifty, Club 67, Champions and also 56 Live and deal varying levels of premium friendliness as well as exclusive accessibility to occasions. Packages begin at $5,950.
NFL Honors presented by Invisalign Opens its Doors to the General Public
One of the most expected events leading up to the Super Bowl is NFL Honors offered by Invisalign taking place at the YouTube Theater at Hollywood Park. For the very first time, NFL Honors will certainly provide pick tickets to followers. Just through On Location can followers have VIP-level access to the honor program and also see the 2021 NFL MVP crowned in person. Additionally, a pick couple of guests will certainly have the ability to walk the red rug like NFL professional athletes and stars.
A Super Bowl Weekend to bear in mind
Heading right into the weekend break, On Location will certainly organize an intimate evening with Hall of Fame Running Back, Super Bowl Champion and MVP Marcus Allen. Guests will certainly have the chance to fulfill Allen for autographs as well as photo ops. Sticking with the Los Angeles motif, the night will show the background, food as well as society that makes LA unique.
Throughout the weekend, On Location will certainly host various occasions with NFL Legends including three-time Super Bowl Champion as well as official On Location ambassador Troy Aikman, two-time Super Bowl Champion Steve Atwater, Hall of Famer wide receiver Raiders legend Tim Brown, Hall of Fame running back Eric Dickerson as well as Hall of Fame quarterback Warren Moon.
Now in its 3rd year, the Bud Light Super Bowl Music Fest offered in collaboration with On Location will take place over a span of 3 evenings at Crypto.com Arena ahead of Super Bowl LVI on Feb. 10-12. The occasion starts Thursday with Halsey and Machine Gun Kelly, complied with by Blake Shelton and Gwen Stefani with Mickey Guyton as well as wraps up on Saturday with Green Day as well as Miley Cyrus.
As the official friendliness companion of the NFL, On Location has unmatched access to the renowned Vince Lombardi Trophy. Followers will certainly remain in uncommon company having the chance to take a photo with the trophy prior to it takes the area and is granted to this year’s champ.
Commemorate Like a Super Bowl Champion
On Location offers followers exclusive on-field gain access to at SoFi Stadium after the video game. Purchasers of the On the Fifty bundle sitting on the 100 level can make confetti angels and also enjoy the view from the area similar to a Super Bowl Champion. Furthermore, On Location will host a postgame celebration for select guests outside the YouTube Theater with a premium open bar and also culinary experience from Wolfgang Puck Catering.
To find out more on exactly how to be On Location at Super Bowl LVI, go to www.onlocationexp.com/nfl/super-bowl-tickets


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Johnstons Toyota’s store near Monticello will close Wednesday after 15 years following the company’s decision to consolidate operations in New Hampton, where a new showroom will be built.
Economics was at the heart of the decision. Johnstons Toyota needed to upgrade its appearance to meet corporate requirements. Accomplishing that at the busier of the two locations simply made sense, said Vice President Steve Jardine.
The overall costs of doing business, from construction to taxes to advertising, Jardine said, made it time to consolidate.
“We had to choose where to make the investment,” he said, “and with one location we have more of a focus.”
All 12 of the employees at the Monticello dealership will work at either Johnstons Toyota in New Hampton or at Johnstons Subaru in Wawayanda. The dealerships are on Route 17M, within a few miles of each other. All of the workers, Jardine said, will also be getting a pay raise.
Johnstons Toyota and Subaru employ 150 people. Both Johnstons locations are on the cusp of major expansions.
Concrete is scheduled to be poured on Wednesday as construction begins on a 22,000-square-foot Toyota showroom and office space on property adjacent to the current operation, opposite the New Hampton firehouse. The site was previously occupied by Ramapo Plumbing Co. and a Suzuki dealership.
The current 10,000-square-foot showroom will remain open, giving the dealership a total of nearly 32,000-square-feet of showroom space. There will also be 300 more parking spaces. The project will cost about $6 million, said Jardine, who was looking forward to opening the new building in May or June 2017.
At Johnstons Subaru, where Jardine is the owner, a $3 million to $4 million expansion project is underway opposite the current dealership.
The decrepit remains of the closed Wiedy's furniture store have been demolished and carted away. Other structures on the property are being upgraded for what will include a 15,000-square-foot Subaru showroom, and a 24-bay service shop in 2017. Used car sales will be the focus at the current dealership.


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Virginia's anti-price gouging statutes have gone into effect.
As Hurricane Florence heads toward the coastline, Gov. Ralph Northam declared a state of emergency.
In turn, Attorney General Mark Herring issued a statement that price gouging will not be tolerated.
As defined by the state, the term refers to "unconscionable" or unreasonably high increases in the costs for essential goods and services in the 30 days after an emergency declaration. The goal is to protect consumers.
The list of items and services under protection includes water, ice, food, generators, batteries, home repair materials and services and tree removal services.
"Taking advantage of natural disasters and exploiting folks for financial gain is against the law and I will work to make sure that those who participate in price gouging are brought to justice," Herring said in a news release.
If you suspect you are the victim of price gouging, download a complaint form at oag.state.va.us/consumer-protection.
Complaints relating to gas, diesel and motor fuel prices are to be filed separately through the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.


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After starting out as a dud, Robinhood’s newly minted public shares are giving traders on Reddit plenty of meme material.
The stock has perked up after initially drooping below the IPO price, with some 176 million shares changing hands yesterday, more than the previous three days combined, according to FactSet data. The frenzy sparked multiple exchange-trading halts as shares rocketed higher. The California-based brokerage’s stock has doubled in price to $70.39 from its public debut on July 29.
The trading momentum pushed Robinhood’s market capitalization to about double that of industry stalwart Nasdaq, the exchange operator, and to roughly the same as Swiss bank UBS, which has roots going back to the 19th century. Buying and selling of Robinhood appeared particularly energized by options linked to the company’s shares, which became available yesterday.
Retail traders have lately gobbled up options, which provide a cheap way to bet on a stock going up or down in price without having to actually purchase the shares. (Fittingly, the options market is where Robinhood makes most of its money.)
Some commenters on Reddit’s Wallstreetbets forum, an unofficial town hall for day traders and retail investors, have been sour on the brokerage’s IPO. But love it or hate it, posts and memes about Robinhood have garnered more than a thousand comments in the past 24 hours.
Many retail investors were incensed early this year when Robinhood restricting trading in GameStop shares, which were at the center of a battle between hedge funds and individual traders. Recent posts suggest some of the Wallstreetbets crowd still hold a grudge, even though Robinhood’s trading restrictions had more to do with market plumbing than some effort to protect the financial elites.
And despite concerns about Robinhood’s financial prospects, whether because of potential regulation or technology snafus, some of the retail set appear to be betting on the brokerage upstart. Robinhood was Fidelity’s most-traded stock yesterday, with buying outpacing selling.


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The global meeting and conference market may have grown by about 7% in 2007 but the forecast going ahead is less certain. As a result competition is becoming fiercer and brands are sharpening up their conference packages to retain market share.
Novotel, which built its reputation in the middle market over 40 years, recently consolidated its offering with the launch of Meeting@Novotel. The concept, led by brand director Pierre Lagrange in a joint project between marketing and operations, has been extended across 400 hotels in 60 countries.
Lagrange tells HMI: “The market has been quite dynamic and we are observing interesting changes. One is the reduction of events’ length to one or two days. Also the size of meetings is much smaller, with 53% attended by less than 50 people in 2007, compared to 45% in 2006.”
To capitalise on this, Novotel has established a multi-criteria search engine on its website, with extensive information on each hotel. Requests for estimates are also managed online and reservations confirmed by phone within 24 hours.
Lagrange says: “Our clients, agencies and corporate customers are going to the internet site, checking the destinations and then making bookings – this is an important and desirable change.”
Now 82% of clients search for their destinations through the internet. The Meeting@Novotel concept also includes four distinct meeting types: Brain Train, for training; Go Team, for teamwork; Mind Share, to work on ideas; and Show & Tell, to present new products.
The variations are achieved through room layout, food and beverage choices, locations and the rhythm of the meetings, taking into account biological peaks and troughs.
And in France, the brand is trialling a new meeting concept called Eureka, specially designed for creative meetings to encourage people to share ideas.
“It works,” says Lagrange. “People are being more productive and generating more ideas.”
Other essentials for Novotel’s 2,000 meeting rooms around the world are natural light and ergonomic furniture.
Another critical route to success is the staff, who Novotel train in two key positions. Lagrange explains: “The first is sales people – people who are not only able to sell but to give advice, listen and really understand what kind of meeting the customers want. The second are the people who coordinate the meetings, taking responsibility for everything from A to Z.”
Jean Bowcott, director of operations for Novotel UK, explains how the company recently piloted an additional training scheme for its meeting room reservation staff in London.
“We launched special sales training for the people who take the meeting bookings,” she says. “These staff are not simply order takers.They are sales staff, and they need to be professional and informative.”
This was followed with evaluation resource planning (ERP) to measure how staff perform and benchmark their service against other hotels. Bowcott also highlights Novotel UK’s introduction of an online initiative to help staff forward a professional proposal to clients within 24 hours, using pre-formatted online forms and pdfs of brochures.
Innovations such as these set Novotel apart, according to Lagrange, in addition to the brand’s historic legitimacy and consistent delivery.
At the luxury end, regional director of European global sales for Kempinski, James Phillips, also works to ensure the brand keeps one step ahead of customers’ ever-increasing expectations in turbulent economic times.
He says: “The last couple of years have been a bullish time that has changed the market. The nature of conferences is changing and decisions are being delayed. But while the financial sector is uncertain, we are seeing others develop, such as the music industry, with artists using us for tours. Training has also become peak business and there is an interesting correlation with the economy as individuals choose to invest in themselves during tough times.”
The other noticeable development is a focus on terms and conditions, with more frequent cancellations after contracts are signed.
“Flexibility is fundamental,” Phillips explains. “We have just had this happen with one enormous piece of business that we were able to break into two and so protect our revenues.”
He agrees with Novotel that customers are shopping around more and booking shorter events.
One way in which Kempinski seeks to retain its share of the luxury market is through consolidating its customer base by associations with acquisitive intermediaries such as Thomas Cook and TUI.
Phillips says: “There has been an uplift of quality across the industry and customers have become more discerning. Customers’ and intermediaries’ expectations have increased. We haven’t deviated from our position as a luxury hotel operator but we have had to adapt to a broadening of the luxury market.”
However, Phillips says that Kempinski continues to corner the market with its ability to offer guests unparalleled experiences as they look for something beyond a “decent bed and good room”.
The unique locations of Kempinski hotels allow this, he says, citing a MICE conference held in Istanbul overlooking the Bosphorus, and the company’s Djibouti resort, recent host to an IMF meeting where guests swam with whale sharks. “That is something that is unique to Kempinski,” he says.
“We have a very unique footprint, which gives us an advantage.”
The brand also has world-class technology facilities at many hotels, including the Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi, which with six translation booths could hold a UN conference and has hosted the launch of the musical Chicago and an address by George Bush.
Although technology is a given for the chain, it recently appointed a chief innovation officer to focus on improvements across the brand, including iPod docking stations, Internet Protocol Television (IPTV), and managing peaks and troughs in connectivity.
Phillips says: “We have always operated at that level to meet very high expectations. It’s what customers expect and what we need to deliver.”
With conferences and meetings making up about a third of the hotels’ revenue, it’s vital that Kempinski continues its year-on-year increases. And with 2009’s events schedule including a high-profile car launch in Sicily and a watch show in Switzerland, the future looks bright.


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Xiaomi has launched its first Redmi branded neckband style wireless earphones in India. The company at an online event announced the Redmi SonicBass wireless earphones in India. Revealed earlier in our neighbouring country, Nepal, these new earphones from the house of Xiaomi comes to India Today.
They are priced at Rs 999 and will be going on sale in the country starting today at 2 PM. You can purchase them on Flipkart and Mi online store. Let’s talk about the specifications and features in detail below.
Redmi SonicBass wireless earphones – Specs and Features
The all-new Redmi earphones bring yet another neckband style to the portfolio of Xiaomi. Last year, Xiaomi unveiled its Mi Neckband Wireless earphones in competition to the realme buds wireless. Unfortunately, they weren’t up to the competition’s battery life or IP rating.
In essentially new iteration of the Mi Neckband, these Redmi SonicBass earphones bring a battery life of up to 12 hours on a single charge. Xiaomi claims that its Redmi branded Bluetooth earphones come with superior sound and pro bass. Speaking about the Bluetooth, they are supported by Bluetooth 5.0 devices, which means better and farther connectivity.
Talking about the driver size, they are powered by a 9.2mm drivers on each bud. With an IP rating of IPX4, they are claimed to be sweat and splash resistance. This means it can be a perfect partner on your workout sessions. Staying healthy and fit is all one could think of these days, and Redmi SonicBass could be your partner. Listen to those motivational soundtracks and speeches while you workout.
What do you guys think of the all-new Redmi wireless earphones in India? Let us know in the comment section below.


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The ability to come up with cohesive cloud offering has eluded Lenovo for years, but the company is taking steps to offer more services that it can wrap around its mobile devices and enterprise products.
Lenovo subsidiary Stoneware is planning to offer hosted application services that will build on existing secure cloud and virtual desktop services. Lenovo opened its first public cloud service just a year ago, building it around technology acquired from Stoneware in September 2012.
Stoneware's current WebNetwork virtual desktop offering is more like a cloud desktop, with a browser-like interface providing access to remote applications, storage services and other Web application services. The tiled user interface provides access to applications like Microsoft Office and Adobe Photoshop, which are hosted in data centers and don't need to be downloaded and installed locally on mobile devices and PCs. The cloud desktop also provides secure and server-defined access to Web-based software such as Salesforce applications.
The Stoneware unit's offerings are aimed at the enterprise, and can be used on mobile devices and PCs across operating systems. The unit now plans to directly offer hosted applications for those who don't have data centers or don't want to make major investments in buying applications. Companies will be able to buy hosted applications as and when needed, and don't need their own servers in a data center.
"It's going to be a combination. At the enterprise level we assume they have a data center that we can't offer. But as we go down into [small- and medium-business] it's more likely... they will say they want to go without a data center and purchase certain applications," said Rick German, CEO of Lenovo's Stoneware unit.
Lenovo has not however provided a timeframe for the new Stoneware hosted services.
The goal is to aggregate on-premise applications, software-as-a-service and storage services in just one user interface, German said.
Lenovo promised an aggressive push into the cloud two years ago in an effort to sell more devices, but the move has been slow. The company announced its public cloud service called Reach under a year ago, but is still bundling the third-party SugarSync storage and file synchronizing service with its devices. Lenovo hopes Stoneware will provide the infrastructure and middleware through which devices can access and exchange data over public and private clouds.
Lenovo is the world's top PC maker, and is increasing its share of tablet and smartphone shipments. Lenovo has agreed to buy IBM's x86 for US$2.3 billion, which should put it among the world's top five server makers.
While Stoneware's underlying technology is being used in Reach, aimed at consumers, the WebNetwork offering is targeted at the enterprise. Much like traditional virtual desktops, Stoneware's cloud desktop — by using Citrix and VMware software — can also stream Windows applications, or let users download an application package that can be run locally on mobile devices or PCs.
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The government is planning to come up with a semiconductor design-linked incentive policy to promote domestic manufacturing as well as attract global electronic chip companies to the country, according to an official source.
Global majors such as Qualcomm, Intel, Mediatek, Infineon, and Texas Instruments have their research and development in India which contribute in the development of their chipsets.
“The government is deliberating on a new semiconductor design-linked incentive scheme which envisages financial and infrastructure support for Indian MSMEs and startups right through the ideate stage to the production stage. As and when these startups start producing and selling chips in the market, they shall also avail additional incentives under the scheme on their net sales turnover,” an official source told PTI.
Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar last week had said that the government would host a conference of semiconductor companies in November to discuss India’s policy roadmap in the segment.
“It is a great initiative that will leverage India’s strength to make an impact in the field of design of semiconductors. We can target to have 25 plus fabless companies in the next few years which will make a substantial impact in the global semiconductor market,” industry body IESA chairman Rajeev Khushu said.
The semiconductor design is the main driver of revenues that electronic chip companies earn from the sale of their high-end components.


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Travel group TUI is set to bring an additional 300,000 tourists to Greece in 2014 compared with this year, exceeding 2 million visitors, according to the German tour operator’s chief executive officer, Peter Long, who has just concluded a visit to this country.
TUI is already taking bookings for next year and is one of the biggest travel groups in the world, which creates optimism for an even greater number of holidaymakers from abroad in 2014, on the back of a major increase this year. Tourism professionals are already talking about a new record of 18 million foreign visitors to Greece next year, provided no significant domestic or international developments have a negative impact on Greek tourism.
September and October 2013 also appear to be particularly good, in the wake of a record-setting summer. Some 3 million arrivals are expected by air in total this month and next.


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A common term for this new workforce is the "flex economy," or the "gig economy," but whatever you call it, it's certainly non-traditional. As of 2015, the average business' workforce consisted of 20 percent contingent workforce and 54 percent traditional full-time employees. The other 26 percent are a grey area of people who fit into both categories; perhaps remote workers or part-time employees. Fieldglass predicts that by 2017 that will change to 25 percent contingent and 41 percent traditional workers, while the remaining 34 percent will exist in that grey area.
"Utilizing an external workforce can offer a variety of benefits for employers, whether an organization is focused on keeping down costs, finding the highest quality workers or under time constraints," says Srinivasan.
Full-time workers are safe … for now
However, anyone concerned about the state of fulltime work doesn't have to worry just yet. The study predicts that while nontraditional workers are starting to edge out traditional workers, it's a slow progression. Srinivasan says he foresees a 50-50 split down the line, but that businesses will always rely on full-time traditional workers in some capacity. "For a company's core competencies, employees will always be needed and an important part of the overall culture and business operations. That said, we do see more organizations exploring ways that a flexible workforce makes sense and can help them achieve their goals."
And although this trend is increasing in popularity, there are also challenges with the reality of contingent workers. In the study, 48 percent cited a lack of visibility and intelligence into the ultimate ramifications of the gig economy. For example, it's difficult to ensure these freelancers are up to speed on compliance, training and their overall impact on the business; all things you can easily teach a traditional worker. Of those surveyed, 46 percent specifically stated concerns around compliance with federal, state and regulatory labor guidelines as they start hiring people from other states or countries.
There are also concerns around spending, with 45 percent citing a pressure to reduce costs and improve savings. Businesses have to consider the cost of hiring individual talent for new projects and initiatives. There will need to be a focus on creating realistic cost evaluations and budgets around nontraditional hires. And one of the last concerns that 37 percent of businesses cited was the ability to grow its workforce. With a traditional workforce, businesses can focus on on-demand training and growth opportunities, but that isn't as easy with freelancers or contract workers.
As the gig economy grows, businesses can expect more support. Similar to the websites that help businesses hire, manage and pay these workers, more software and products will be developed to support the gig economy. For example, companies are adopting Freelancer Management Systems (FMS) that make it efficient to manage this new load of non-traditional employees. Just as the hiring trends shift, businesses simply need to readjust and innovate around their current talent management strategies.
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Seán Hussey's grandfather started Hussey & Sons Fruit and Veg in 1947 with a five-acre site in Kinsealy, north Dublin. He grew vegetables and brought them into the city to sell them by horse and cart. Hussey is the third generation in charge, and the business has predominantly been servicing the catering industry with homegrown and imported fruit and vegetables, but late last year he decided to use some of the family land to allow customers to start growing their own produce, and bringing their children out on weekends to get involved.
John Wyer from restaurant Forest Avenue and daughter Ruby were two of the first to take him up on his offer. Soon Hussey began getting approached by Irish growers struggling to find a distributor, some of who were close to giving up growing, and he decided to make it his own personal project.
On his books now are Ballymakenny Potatoes, Drummond House Garlic, Bumblebee Edible Flowers, Ard Mhacha Shiitake Mushrooms, and Wicklow farmer Rory Phelan's strawberries and blueberries. Despite this new co-op only taking shape in early January, Hussey says it's "growing at a rate of knots", and restaurants such as Peploe's, Mulberry Garden, Forest Avenue, Bang and Variety Jones in Dublin, as well as La Cote in Wexford, and hospitality providers Baxter Storey, are taking all of his produce, and planning their menus around what's available that week. They even have pre-orders for fruits and vegetables that haven't been planted yet.
Last week they sent 11 pallets to Kerry to be sold in markets and shops across the county, as well as to the English Market in Cork, and speciality food shops such as the Village Butcher in Ranelagh and Indie Fude in Co Down. The produce will also be available in Fallon & Byrne in the next few weeks, with Hussey saying: "I never realised how much one box means to these growers. I, hand on heart, want people to come out here to learn, it's not about making money. We want to create a passion for food, get the children involved early on, and educate people about what they're eating."
New wine bar for Mount Merrion
Gaz Smith of Michael's in Mount Merrion, famous for serving some of the freshest seafood in Dublin straight from the boat, is opening a seafood and wine bar a few doors down to cope with demand. Mike's Wine Bar will serve oysters, seafood small plates, cheese and charcuterie, and have a wine list focusing on small producers and low-intervention wines. Smith says they're currently turning away 30-plus people some days, so the new site should help with the overspill.
The Food Safety Authority of Ireland has a new scanning tool to identify the entire DNA content of a food, which it says will further protect consumers from food fraud and misleading labelling. Previous technology meant that analysts needed to know what they were looking for, for example horse meat, but this new tool will tell them exactly what's in a food, without specifying what to look for. A few years ago in the United States a study of seafood samples taken from restaurants and retail units across 21 states found that a third were not what they said they were. Sushi restaurants were the worst offenders with 74 per cent selling mislabelled fish. Whether a similar study will be carried out here remains to be seen.
Go fancy for Pancake Tuesday
Pancake Tuesday is this week, and if you want to up your pancake game this year, Aldi is selling professional-looking crêpe makers and pancake turners. They're also selling mini smiley-face pancake pans, waffle makers and all the accompaniments, so no excuses not to join the pancake party.


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The Information AM
by The Information Staff
Start your morning with the important global tech news of the day, covered by The Information team across five time zones.
YouTube TV to Drop Price As a Result of NBCU Dispute
Sept. 27, 2021 · 7:57 AM PDT
Google's response is a clever way of highlighting the cost of NBCU's channels and is a tactic not deployed by cable or satellite TV operators in similar disputes before.
EV Company Polestar to Merge with Gores Guggenheim SPAC in $20 Billion Deal
Sept. 27, 2021 · 7:27 AM PDT
Polestar joins several other electric vehicle companies which have decided to go public via SPAC mergers, including Tesla, Nikola and Lucid Group.
Spotify Kicks off Ad Campaign Targeting Advertisers
Sept. 27, 2021 · 7:10 AM PDT
The new campaign is designed to lure small and mid-sized businesses.
Instagram Hits Pause on Plans for Kids App
Sept. 27, 2021 · 5:44 AM PDT
The company says it does not have a timeline for when work on the project could resume.
Didi Global’s Chinese Ride-Hailing Rival Eyes New Funding Round
Sept. 27, 2021 · 12:18 AM PDT
Cao Cao Mobility is in talks with investors about its next funding round as its bigger rival Didi Global grapples with a tough government crackdown.
Alibaba CEO Pledges Support for Xi Jinping’s Common Prosperity Push
Sept. 26, 2021 · 10:17 PM PDT
China's biggest internet companies are stressing their commitment to the Communist Party's policy goals as they grapple with Beijing's regulatory crackdown.
Facebook Rebukes WSJ Reporting Ahead of Thursday Hearing
Sept. 26, 2021 · 6:27 PM PDT
Instagram is under mounting pressure over its impact on young users
Internal Robinhood Discussions Revealed in Court Filing
Sept. 24, 2021 · 1:09 PM PDT
The filings also show how company executives were worried about the implications of halting trading on certain stocks.
Huawei Finance Chief to be Freed After Deal with U.S. Prosecutors
Sept. 24, 2021 · 10:26 AM PDT
The three year confinement in Canada of Meng Wanzhou symbolized tensions between the U.S. and China over Huawei.
China Bans All Cryptocurrency Transactions
Sept. 24, 2021 · 5:23 AM PDT
The announcement is the boldest move yet by the Chinese government to crack down on cryptocurrencies given its inability to regulate and trace them.
Alibaba to Sell Stake in Chinese Broadcaster
Sept. 23, 2021 · 11:32 PM PDT
Alibaba will sell its 5% stake in Mango Excellent Media, a station based in central China, amid a broader antitrust crackdown in China.
Google Hopes to Settle EU Antitrust Probe Over Online Ad Business
Sept. 23, 2021 · 10:43 AM PDT
Convincing European regulators to settle the investigation is likely an uphill battle for Google.
CNN Announces Programming Team for Streaming Service
Sept. 23, 2021 · 7:48 AM PDT
The new team includes executives from NowThis, NBC and Newsy.
Europe Wants One Mobile Charger To Rule Them All
Sept. 23, 2021 · 5:27 AM PDT ·
The regulations would be a big problem for Apple, which ships products with its own charging cable and “Lightning” port. The iPhone maker has long argued standardising the charging port would hamper innovation.
GM to Invest $300 Million in China’s Self-Driving Firm Momenta
Sept. 23, 2021 · 1:26 AM PDT
The investment marks the first time GM is investing in autonomous driving technology in China, the world's largest car market.
SoftBank-Backed Oyo Seeks to Raise $1 Billion in IPO
Sept. 22, 2021 · 8:55 PM PDT
The IPO for the India-based hotel operator which struggled after massive expansion comes amid a wave of Indian startups going public.
Toast and Freshworks Have Strong Public Company Debuts
Sept. 22, 2021 · 2:44 PM PDT
Both companies reflect strong investor demand for software firms serving businesses.
Facebook CTO Schroepfer To Step Down in 2022, Transition to ‘Senior Fellow’ Role
Sept. 22, 2021 · 2:15 PM PDT
Schroepfer will be succeeded by Andrew Bosworth, a longtime associate of CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
Facebook Shares Fall After It Discloses Apple Advertising Challenges
Sept. 22, 2021 · 12:04 PM PDT
Facebook says it is currently “underreporting” the frequency with which iPhone users were clicking on ads to buy products.
Epic’s Sweeney Blasts Apple for Refusing to Reinstate Epic to App Store
Sept. 22, 2021 · 10:14 AM PDT
Apple's stance means Epic may be shut out of the App Store for years to come.
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This despite the troubles caused by the Covid which had affected production, the sharp increase in the cost of freight, the non-availability of refrigerated containers on time due to cartelization by shipping companies, not to mention China which carries out nucleic tests on imports of seafood from India.
It is a labor-intensive industry, employing mostly women – Tamil Nadu’s 40 or so seafood exporters employ more than 30,000 people. But despite having a coastline of 1,076 km, Tamil Nadu only accounts for 15% of India’s total seafood exports of $ 7.8 billion targeted for this fiscal year.
Main markets for Indian seafood exports 2021-2021
Tamil Nadu is proactive. He identified seafood exports as one of the âchampionâ sectors for boosting exports and helping the state meet its economic goal of $ 1 trillion by 2030. We made a detailed presentation at Minister of Finance Palanivel Thiaga Rajan. He and Fisheries Minister Anitha Radhakrishnan have pledged their full support to us, âsaid KVV Mohanan, Tamil Nadu president of the Indian Association of Seafood Exporters.
Tamil Nadu’s 15% share of seafood exports includes transfers from Andhra Pradesh via the port of Chennai. Aquaculture (mainly shrimp) contributes nearly 70% of the export pot, with capture fisheries accounting for the rest. Aquaculture production in TN has been declining for the past few years, while other states such as Andhra Pradesh have increased their production. The hatchery sector, which originated in Chennai, has been the victim of extortion by antisocials with political backing. As a result, the industry has gone into virtual hibernation for the past 10 years in the state, the industry delegation told ministers.
âThis government is concerned about developing the seafood industry. I asked the hatcheries and aquaculturists associations to come forward and develop an action plan with the exporters to enable the industry to exploit its vast potential. As such, the industry’s problems do not come from the government, but from local disbelievers turned extortionists, âsaid Elias Sait, general secretary of the Indian Association of Seafood Exporters.
He cites a recent case, where a seafood exporter received in a month all the necessary authorizations from this government to establish a factory near Arambakkam, near the TN-AP border to process fish. But a few criminals were all the rage and the exporter is now forced to go to court, despite the support of local authorities, to start operations.
Seafood exports may increase if Tamil Nadu can add an additional 8,000 acres to aquaculture over the next three years, allocating land to poorer sections, especially the fishing community, according to experts at industry. The government should also help them obtain loans and provide grants to help them adopt the latest techniques in aquaculture. This can bring shrimp production to 50,000 tonnes per year, up from 20,000 tonnes last year.
âAndhra Pradesh (Seemandhra) has effectively used nearly 95% of the land identified as suitable for aquaculture. In Tamil Nadu, only 16% of the available land is used. The growth potential is enormous, âsays Mohanan.
Industry experts say Tamil Nadu’s seafood exports can reach 15,000 crore and more over the next five years, up from an expected 9,000 crore this year. âBut we face problems on two fronts. High diesel prices, despite state government subsidies, have limited the number of boats venturing out to sea and continued depletion of marine resources has halved catches, âsaid DB Ravi Reddy, Treasurer of the Seafood Exporters Association of India. He says indiscriminate fishing, which also brings back juvenile fish, has contributed to the depletion of the catch. The cost of electricity to run cold stores in Tamil Nadu is also five times higher than in some other coastal states.
Industry must overcome this “double whammy” to maintain exports at existing levels. He urged the state to introduce aquaculture parks, offer the latest tuna fishing technology and encourage cage culture and sea-breeding to replenish the catch.


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Antidote Studios Nagee Gant and Jujuan Thorn speaks passionately about the event and much more in the video above.
FLINT- The music scene of the 810 was in full effect this past weekend, thanks to the hands of Flint’s Antidote Studio. Antidote Studio hosted its first event for the community, in the form of a STACKED music showcasing. The ‘Antidote Fest’ consisted of local Michigan artists, representing various music genres, turning Brush Park into one of the best vibes of the summer.
Rapper, Shorti, performs live at Antidote Fest.
“This’ll be the one that puts us on the map,” said Nygee Gant, leading engineer for the studio, as he spoke with Next Up Gee about the excitement around the inaugural event. Many of the performers were excited about the opportunity to perform in-front of their fans and community supporters, but more thrilled about the chance to be apart of the Antidote Fest’s first line up of performers. With no shortage of buzzing artist, Velly Beretta, Jeff Skigh, SIXONESIXX, Rashaad Reed, Jada Ali, and King Ca$hes were some of the performers anchoring the event. While the entertainment was brewing, vendors such as Fruits of Elegance catered to the crowd of epicures, and Solidified clothing offered one of the most consistent local brands to fashion enthusiasts.
WHAT IS ANTIDOTE STUDIO?
The Antidote Studio is a state of the art, non-profit recording studio. Maryam Rasool, founder of Antidote Studio, emphasizes the importance of “cultivating a cure” for the community. While the studio offers recording and producing sessions, it also aims to teach and serve the coming generations. Antidote Studio is located on 4119 Saginaw St, Flint MI, operating Monday-Saturday.


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DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — Tourists will soon be saying “Greetings From Brooklyn” from a revamped, high-tech visitor’s center at Borough Hall.
The new Brooklyn Tourism Visitor's Center will feature iPads where sightseers can browse through attractions and dining options in the borough’s various neighborhoods, as well as a gift shop featuring locally made artisanal products.
The center, which currently houses historical photos and memorabilia from the borough at 209 Joralemon St., will get new graphic wall displays with images of Brooklyn landmarks and promotional banners to draw in street traffic.
“Through the Visitor Center, each neighborhood across Brooklyn — from Coney Island and Sheepshead Bay to Crown Heights and Brownsville — will be promoted to tourists, so they spend their time and money in our businesses,” said Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce President Carlos Scissura.
The Chamber of Commerce has partnered with the Brooklyn Borough President’s Office and the Department of Citywide Services, which manages city-owned buildings, to make the improvements.
The new center is expected to open mid-March, according to the New York Daily News.
The Chamber of Commerce is funding the iPads and some other repairs, while the rest of the fixes are being covered by the DCAS, the Daily News reports.
A spokeswoman at DCAS did not immediately say how much the repairs would cost.
An estimated 15 million people visited Brooklyn in 2014, according to the Chamber of Commerce.
“Tourists want a memorable experience when they travel, and our new and improved center will set the stage for a day trip, weekend getaway, or longer excursion that excites their senses and expands their horizons,” said Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams.


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Android 4.1 is delayed for the Asus Transformer Pad Infinity
Just yesterday, we told you that Asus had sent a sweet tweet confirming the imminent Android 4.1 update
for both the Asus Transformer Prime
and the Asus Transformer Pad Infinity
. We have good news for the owners of one of the two tablets as the Jelly Bean update has been rolling out this morning
to the Asus Transformer Prime. The manufacturer has passed the word on to XDA that the update of the Asus Transformer Pad Infinity has been delayed for a few days.
The delay is necessary thanks to the updates to a number of apps, like the Facebook app, that require Asus to make some small changes to the keyboard
via a firmware update, so that the apps will run correctly. The update for the Asus Transformer Pad Infinity should be available around the beginning of next week.
Asus sent out a note about the delayed update


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Todor Minev has taken to Kickstarter in order to get his Zombie Head Ice Cream Cup and Beer Mug project into production. Rewards include both the ice cream cups shown above as well as mugs (each mug has a weapon impaling the head as a handle). They've also teamed up with Chris from the Achtung! Cthulhu RPG game to add "The Goblet of Cthulhu".
They have already hit their Kickstarter goal, but you still have until Sunday April 28th 2013 at 4:13PM ET to get involved in the project.


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2022 Kia Seltos facelift is expected to receive cosmetic updates on its exterior mostly concentrated on the front and rear ends
Kia made a thunderous entry to the Indian market with Seltos in 2019 and the vehicle remains one of the highest-selling SUVs in its segment along with its cousin Hyundai Creta. After making its global debut in June 2019, the current Seltos officially entered the Indian market a couple of months later.
It now appears that the Korean carmaker is gearing up to develop a mid-cycle facelift for the mid-size SUV. Needless to say, the compact C-segment has seen an influx of new SUVs in recent times. The Korean siblings have been challenged by new arrivals such as Skoda Kushaq and Volkswagen Taigun.
The segment will also see stiff competition from new models in the coming future such as the jointly developed SUV from Maruti and Toyota. Hence, it is of utmost importance for OEMs to continually update their products. Coming back to Seltos, the first spy shots of the facelifted SUV have been leaked online. Test mules of 2022 Kia Seltos facelift have been spotted testing in South Korea.
2022 Kia Seltos facelift- Styling Updates
The updates on the upcoming model are expected to be predominantly cosmetic in nature. The entire test prototype seen in the latest spy shots has been wrapped under a partial camouflage. Most of the exterior updates appear to be concentrated on the front end of the SUV. Therefore, the facelifted Seltos might receive a redesigned front fascia.
Despite being heavily camouflaged at front, we get a sneak peek into the updated headlamp cluster which also includes new LED DRLs. Apart from the updated lighting setup, the upcoming iteration of Seltos seems to feature a new grille, a reprofiled front bumper and new fog lamp housings. Further, the new Seltos could follow the brand’s latest design philosophy of “Opposites United”, already seen on Carens.
2022 Seltos could also flaunt a new rear end design with revised L-shaped LED taillamps and a new rear bumper. No notable change has been witnessed on the profile of the SUV as Kia has maintained the boxy crossover silhouette of the current Seltos. Since it is in its early stages of development, more changes can be observed in the final production-spec model of Seltos facelift.
Expected Powertrain Options
In all likelihood, the Korean carmaker will offer the same set of powertrain options as the current model. These include a 1.5-litre naturally aspirated petrol engine, a 1.5-litre CRDi diesel motor and a 1.4-litre GDi turbo petrol mill. Transmission options in the lineup will include a 6-speed manual, 6-speed torque converter, a CVT, a 6-speed iMT clutchless manual and a 7-speed DCT.
Interestingly, even Hyundai has recently unveiled a facelifted model of Creta which shares its DNA with Seltos. However, unlike its cousin, updates on the new Seltos are not expected to be as comprehensive. More details regarding the 2022 Seltos facelift are awaited in coming months.


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iWedia to demonstrate software solutions for IPTV, Google TV, OTT, and SAT>IP devices at TV Connect 2013Thursday, March 14th, 2013
iWedia to demonstrate software solutions for IPTV, Google TV, OTT, and SAT>IP devices at TV Connect 2013, affirming itself as the software partner of choice for connected TV devices
- A dedicated edition of its Teatro-3.5 software solution addressing Android operated IPTV STB will be showcased.
- An officially appointed software integrator for Google TV devices, iWedia will demonstrate its extension to the Google TV framework which gives support to live and recorded digital TV.
- For hybrid OTT devices, iWedia will be demoing a complete software solution running under Linux.
- iWedia will also be revealing a software solution for headless broadcast gateways implementing the server side of the SAT>IP protocol.
LAUSANNE, Switzerland — iWedia today announced that it will be showcasing a collection of software solutions for connected TV devices during TV Connect 2013 in London, from Tuesday, March 19th through to Thursday, March 21st. With an offering that covers IPTV, Google TV, OTT, and SAT>IP, iWedia affirms itself as the software partner of choice for connected TV devices.
For Android operated IPTV STB, iWedia proposes a dedicated edition of its Teatro-3.5 software solution delivered pre integrated with major video over IP delivery platforms as well as with major Digital Right Management systems. It smoothly mixes managed IPTV services with Web services and Android apps. It is showcased on several platforms from different manufacturers featuring various chipsets. This solution is targeted at IPTV service providers and is planned to be deployed beginning of Q2 this year on the IPTV network of a major European telco.
iWedia is one the few companies selected by Google as a software integrator for Google TV devices. In addition to delivering software integration services to Google TV device manufacturers, iWedia also provides the Google TV Edition of its Teatro-4.5 software solution which extends the Google TV framework to support live and recorded digital TV. This solution will be showcased in a device targeting the UK terrestrial retail market and that thus gives support to Freeview/MHEG-5.
iWedia will also be revealing a software solution for headless broadcast gateways. This specific edition of Teatro-3.0 manages a collection of DVB tuners and uses the SAT>IP protocol to redistribute the DVB signals over an IP-based multimedia home network. In a Pay TV environment, CI Plus and DTCP-IP (source) are used to perform a “CA2DRM” conversion from the Conditional Access (CA) system to the Digital Rights Management (DRM) system.
“Over the last three years, we have heavily invested in building software solutions for connected TV devices on top of Linux, Android, and Google TV environments,” said Nikola Teslic, CTO of iWedia. “Thanks to that effort, our company is now in a position to propose a comprehensive product portfolio to the market and to stand out as the reference software partner in the field”.
For further information on iWedia’s software products and integration capabilities, visit us at TV Connect 2013 (stand G39).


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The House Financial Services Committee chairman, US Rep. Patrick McHenry, has introduced a financial data privacy bill.
The North Carolina Republican introduced the Data Privacy Act of 2023 Friday (Feb. 24), saying it modernizes the relevant laws, gives consumers more control over their personal information and allows innovation, according to apress release.
“The financial services sector is already highly regulated when it comes to consumer data,” McHenry said in the release. “However, it’s critical that we bring our privacy guardrails into the 21st century to match the widespread adoption of financial technology.”
The bill would require consumers be provided with information about how their data is being collected and used, that they be able to stop the collection of it and that they be able to delete it, according to McHenry’s summary of the bill.
It would also require covered entities to tell consumers why they are collecting the data, use it only for that purpose and allow consumers to opt out, the summary said.
The bill would also require that terms and conditions be transparent, provide a national standard around data handling, and modernize the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act to ensure that these consumers apply to future innovations and technologies, per the summary.
“I’m proud to introduce this legislation to secure Americans’ private financial data, without strangling innovation,” McHenry said in the release.


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Aldi Five-Dollar Rosé Wins Sidney Wine Award
An Aldi private label wine that retails at A$5 has defeated wines which cost up to three times its price, to win a Blue Gold Medal at the Sydney International Wine Competition, dailymail.co.uk reports.
Aldi’s 2015 South Point Rosé was among six prize-winners in the rosé section, it claiming the award for the best of this kind under A$15.
Buying director for Aldi wines, Jason Bowyer, commented on Aldi’s award-winning Victoria-made product, “We pride ourselves on sourcing products of the highest quality, and these award wins are testament to the excellent calibre of the Australian suppliers we work with.
“The quality and value equation is the most important variable at Aldi. It enables us to deliver to high standards that are in line with our customers' tastes, by benchmarking product specifications against market leading wine brands.
“A $10 wine at Aldi should drink like a $20 to $25 wine from elsewhere, and we consistently deliver on this formula.”
© 2015 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Peter Donnelly. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here.


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GoDaddy Bets Big On Indian SMB, E-Commerce
As part of its growth and expansion strategy, GoDaddy will launch Business Hosting, a solution designed for SMBs and e-commerce companies in India.
Cloud Solutions Aid HelpAge India Enhance Elderly Care
Partha Bardhan, CIO, HelpAge India, mentioned how migration to ERP cloud applications helped them automate, reduce operational expenses and focus on their core area – caring for the elderly - rather than on the processes.
WannaCry Effect: Is India Ready For More Attacks?
Unfortunately, the current state of cyber security at most enterprises is not uniformly mature to detect, prevent and respond to these threats in a timely manner
Life After WannaCry: How CXOs Can Rethink Cybersecurity
The WannaCry ransomware attack may not have made a difference to some, but it is a big wake-up call for CXOs in bringing about a behavioral change in the way they function.
Oracle Bets On India To Grow Cloud Business
James Stanbridge, VP for IaaS Product Management EMEA and APAC, discusses Oracle's cloud strategy with a focus on India market.
India's Online Gaming Market Poised For Growth
The online gaming industry in India is expected to gain momentum and grow to USD 1 billion by 2021, from the current USD 360 million, says a report.
Digital India Driving Growth For Oracle: CEO Safra Catz
Technology major Oracle has brought its one of the most successful annual event – Oracle OpenWorld – to India.
How Businesses Can Succeed In The Digital Age: Ray Wang
Ray Wang, Constellation Research CEO and Principal Analyst, says, "By digital transformation, people tend to think about the technology transformation, but it’s more of a business transformation."
Enterprise Smartwatch Makers Must Shore Up Security: Analysts
While smartwatch makers are focusing on innovations and the expansion of their presence across the globe, very few are paying attention to enterprise-grade security today.
Fiber Channel Won't Die; It Has Emerged Even Stronger
Anuroop Gupta, Country Manger- SAN Business, Brocade India explains the reasons behind the increased demand for Fibre Channel in the enterprise storage space and discusses some of the latest trends in India.


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FTC Letter Signals Increased Scrutiny of Oil & Gas M&A Activity
In a recent exchange of letters with the White House, the chair of the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) signaled her intent to ramp up antitrust enforcement in the oil and gas industry. The move comes as part of a broader shift in priorities at the FTC in evaluating mergers and is in line with the Biden administration’s recent efforts to increase antitrust enforcement across industries (about which V&E has previously written). While calls for FTC action to combat high gas prices are fairly common from new administrations and Congress, the agency’s recent response includes specific action items that suggest deviations from past policy. These changes could have significant effects on the regulatory environment for energy companies, especially for the retail fuels sector. Indeed, practitioners who regularly represent oil and gas companies before the FTC have noted that they are already receiving inquiries in line with the chair’s letter.
On August 11, 2021, White House National Economic Council Director Brian Deese, who is also head of the new White House Competition Council, issued a letter to the FTC raising concerns about “divergences between oil prices and the cost of gasoline at the pump” during this past summer season. The letter did not provide any support for this assertion but urged the FTC to use “all of its available tools to monitor the U.S. gasoline market and address any illegal conduct that might be contributing to price increases for consumers at the pump.”
On August 25, 2021, the FTC’s new chair, Lina Khan, responded in a two-page letter that echoed the White House’s concerns and also expressed concern that the FTC’s “approach to merger review in recent years has enabled significant consolidation.” The letter claims that the FTC’s prior approach to retail fuel outlet mergers may have created “conditions ripe for price coordination and other collusive practices.”
New FTC Oil & Gas Initiatives
To address these concerns, the chair’s letter outlines several specific actions the agency plans to take.
First, the FTC will seek to “identify additional legal theories to challenge retail fuel station mergers where dominant players are buying up family-run businesses.” The letter does not provide any additional detail on this potentially significant shift in enforcement policy, the basis for this concern, or how this concern relates to protecting competition.
Second, the FTC will re-examine its approach to merger divestitures, to ensure that they do not encourage further consolidation or enable dominant firms or groups of firms to exercise market power. Khan states that she is “especially interested in ways that large national chains may ‘restore’ higher prices through collusive practices.” This reference to the industry-specific term of price “restorations” suggests that the agency’s leadership is more engaged than previously on the details of retail fuel station transactions.
Third, the FTC will “tak[e] steps to deter unlawful mergers in the oil and gas industry,” including by imposing “prior approval” requirements to deter companies from proposing “illegal mergers” in the first place. The FTC recently voted 3-2 to rescind its 1995 policy against the use of “prior approval” requirements in merger consent decrees.
Fourth, the FTC will ask staff to “investigate abuses in the franchise market,” with a specific focus on determining “whether the power imbalance favoring large national chains allows them to force their franchisees to sell gasoline at higher prices, benefitting the chain at the expense of the franchisee’s convenience store operations.” As with the first action item, how these concerns fit within the antitrust laws, and the basis for these concerns, are unclear at this point.
Expect Increased Scrutiny of M&A Activity
While the FTC regularly monitors oil and gasoline prices to identify unusual price activity that may signal potentially anticompetitive conduct in the industry and has brought numerous merger and non-merger enforcement actions over the years, oil and gas has not recently been a focus for the agency in public statements (unlike, for example, pharmaceuticals or technology companies). The letter suggests that the FTC leadership may be more focused on enforcement in the energy industry and that they may be particularly skeptical of transactions involving the acquisition of smaller local fuel retailers by larger national chains.
Based on our own recent experiences with oil and gas mergers before the FTC, and those of others in the antitrust bar, FTC staff has already begun requesting information from merging parties related to the issues in Chair Khan’s August 25 letter, as well as issues, such as unionization and ESG policies, of merging parties. Though Chair Khan’s letter focused on the retail gasoline level, we have seen similar expansive concerns at other levels of gasoline refining and production as well. These investigations are also taking longer than ever before. Unless the recent changes are a temporary blip on the radar — which the letter suggests is unlikely — large oil and gas companies and their counsel may need to adjust expectations on transaction timing and the range of issues investigated for matters that go before the FTC.
This information is provided by Vinson & Elkins LLP for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended, nor should it be construed, as legal advice.


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ROYAL Mail bounced back into profit this week - but the UK postal market is in the throes of a four-year upheaval which poses it huge problems and opens up opportunities for newcomers, whose share prices are already climbing.
Admittedly, Royal Mail's six-month profit of £127m was before such mundane matters as tax, interest and exceptional costs. But hats off to Allan Leighton and his crew for a big improvement.
Sadly, the 'improvement' includes the closure of many suburban post offices and the threat to close 270 of the bigger ones. Further steps towards full commerciality are on the way.
Regulator Postcomm is forcing the pace of opening the market to competition. Its first step in April 2003 was to allow firms that already handled bulk mail to carry some letters. In theory that opened up 30% of the UK market - in practice Royal Mail has lost only 1%.
The original plan was to free a further 30% to newcomers next April and the remaining 40% in April 2007. Now Postcomm wants to speed up and open the market fully from January 2006.
The UK market is worth £5.8bn a year, so this is a juicy bone for new entrants. Some, like Deutsche Post and KPN of the Netherlands, may not interest investors here. But UK firms are well placed to benefit.
One is DX Services, which made its market debut on 1 November, having been demerged from recruitment group Hays.
DX sounds like maths-speak, but here it stands for Document Exchange. This tidy little network shuffles documents from lawyers and the like to each other's offices direct.
It is growing slowly - revenues hit £85m last year - and makes a tidy little profit. That cannot be said for the parcels side, which is why DX profits today are lower than in 2001-2.
The exciting part is the seven-year postal licence DX won in June. It has its own 'end to end' delivery network - unlike the other newcomers, which rely on the Royal Mail postman to take their stuff the final mile.
The shares have raced up to 313p, valuing DX at £272m - twice annual sales. The dividend yield is a useful 3.8%. Critics say DX is a small business growing at a modest rate, with document turnover rising at just 3% a year. But it looks well placed and a bid is possible.
Express delivery group Business Post has a stronger recent track record. Its mail operation began in February and expects a profit in the six months to March on £12m sales. The three-year target is to win 3% of the market, which would be worth £150m.
It delivers bulk mail such as utility bills to post offices and pays them 13p a letter for the last mile, subject to prompt delivery. Depending on its rival is a weak point but the contract has penalties for poor performance.
Post's broker Arbuthnot points out that it has grown faster than DX and is attacking a much greater part of the mail market.
The shares have climbed to 584p, where it sells at a steep 21 times current year earnings and 17 times next year's. That will still look cheap if it grows as hoped.
Royal Mail will make a tough fight of it, even if Leighton leaves to go shopping for Sainsbury's. But at least one of the new mail operators is likely to have the stamp of success.
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- Renault 5 EV prototype will look like the 1980s rally car
- Lord Blunkett 'never envisaged' disabled Child Trust Fund issues
- Can Scottish Mortgage keep climbing? Tom Slater interview
- Electric cars could reap benefits from new green number plates
- The 311mph supercar Venom F5 worth £2million
- Chinese Nio ET7 electric family car costing £60,000
- UK's first garage for charging electric vehicles opens in Braintree


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According to the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg a few days ago, one of the most significant issues that the United States and China are discussing would be that of cloud computing. Why is it important, from an economic point of view? https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-04-10/u-s-china-said-to-further-talks-on-cloud-access-in-trade-deal
Let's do an example to illustrate.
Take Pinterest, a unicorn which has just filed for IPO. https://www.pinterest.com/. Pinterest is wildly popular as a quick way to get information pictorially. You can get a simple photo or drawing explaining how to bake a cake to a doing a yoga post, for instance.
The targeted valuation is about US$11.3 Billion, making it yet another successful unicorn. https://www.ft.com/content/7c4fb5cc-59ea-11e9-9dde-7aedca0a081a But, if you look at the cost structure of the Pinterest business, you would realize that Pinterest has signed a contract with Amazon's cloud service called AWS. The contract was signed in 2017. Pinterest would be using the AWS service and would be paying AWS about US$750 million till 2023. And since 2017, Pinterest has already spent more than US$300 Million on AWS. https://www.businessinsider.com/pinterest-ipo-amazon-web-services-2019-3
As a comparison to revenue, in 2017 Pinterest did US$473 Million of business. And, in 2018, Pinterest grew by more than 50% and achieved a revenue of US$756 Million.
in whatever way you look at the numbers, the amount paid to AWS cloud is a very significant portion of the revenue --- very double-digit percentage.
Not a too crazy question to ask. If a unicorn's revenue tracks with a cloud service such as that on a scale of tens of percentage point all the time, while the unicorn is worth billions of dollars in valuation, then shouldn't the cloud service be also be worth billions of dollars --- with just one client?
And, if you look at the number of clients who are dependent on cloud services such as AWS, that is a really long list.
As a matter of fact, Amazon spent nearly US$28 Billion on CAPEX on cloud last year. The huge investment is also consistent with the other tech giants. In 2018, Microsoft spent US $15.8 Billion, while Google spent US$25.1 Billion.
Cloud business is not just big, many businesses are highly dependent on the service providers. Given that many companies build their infrastructures and services based on the particular offerings provided by the cloud service providers, once you have selected a provider, it is actually very difficult, time-consuming and even risky to switch.
There is clearly a first mover advantage in the cloud business. Let's see what the outcome would be on this particular subject in the trade talk.


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The COVID – 19 pandemic has once again reinstated the importance of developing the digital economy and trying to invest as.
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Bitcoin days destroyed is a measure of volume in the Bitcoin network (and works equally well for other decentralised currencies) and quite a.
Bitcoin Days Destroyed is a measure of the transaction volume of Bitcoin. A bounty for a script to compute the Bitcoin Days Destroyed by the transactions in a block has been awarded.
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early investors came up with the idea of calculating Bitcoin's market cap as a valuation tool, and with the concept of 'Bitcoin Days Destroyed'.
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Bitcoin Days destroyed is the number of Bitcoins moved multiplied by the interval (in days) since they last moved. So 10 Bitcoins held for 1 day then spent = 10 Bitcoin days destroyed. 10 Bitcoins held for 10 days then spent = 100 Bitcoin days destroyed. When a spike of Bitcoin Days Destroyed occurs it can mean that long held coins are moving.
9 Apr 2019.
China wants to destroy 'wasteful' Bitcoin mining. Are the days of China's dominanace numbered?
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Bitcoin plunges around 30% in 10 days, and “there is no one left to buy.”
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According to Glassnode co-founder, Rafael Schultze-Kraft, bitcoin days destroyed (Binary BDD) shows that “HODLers have been diligently.
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It is my privilege now to welcome back the one and the only Gerald Celente, publisher of the renowned Trends Journal. Mr.
From Visual Studio integration to powerful machine learning APIs, you have more than a dozen reasons to choose Azure over AWS.
The US national security adviser Robert O’Brien on Sunday drew parallels between China’s handling of the coronavirus outbreak.
Senior Quantitative Researcher, Hans Hauge, from Ikigai, has just released a series of new metrics for gauging Bitcoin demand which suggests ‘the market bottom is behind us’. Let’s break down the findings. The Market Players In Hauge’s analysis, he identifies two separate classes of traders that participate in the Bitcoin market, who have a direct [.
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Bitcoin days destroyed (Días Bitcoins destruidos) es una fórmula para cuantificar el nivel de actividad económica de Bitcoin.
What are “bitcoin days destroyed,” how is it calculated, and what is the significance of this maturity figure? (Visited 22 times, 1 visits today) Show more. 05:38. PREV. Estafa en torno a Bitcoin denunciada por Pablo Motos. Bit2Me. 13 January, 2020. 22:20. NEXT. Bitcoin Q&A: Proof-of-work, attacks, and ASICs. Bit2Me . 18 January, 2020. You might be interested in. 0. 04:50 ¿QUÉ ES UNA.


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The stars have finally aligned at Constellation in downtown Huntsville.
Huntsville developer Scott McLain and partners met for a news conference this morning at the SpringHill Suites by Marriott to discuss the future of the old Heart of Huntsville Mall property on Memorial Parkway at Clinton Avenue.
The $180 million project will feature nearly 1.5 million square feet of mixed-use offerings, including apartments, hotels, retail, office, and parking decks. McLain said Constellation “might seem long in the tooth with many years of pre-development, but the tempo of the project recently changed and accelerated dramatically.”
“The change that has brought the stars into alignment at Constellation is the partnership with Equibase Capital Group, LLC, of Chicago,” he said. “As co-developer with Equibase, I can easily say that there may not be a finer partnership for a mixed-use development.”
McLain said Equibase, an entrepreneurial real estate investment firm, has been working in the Huntsville area for three years. The group’s principals — David Husman, Peter Wall, and Timothy Grogan — have developed more than 10,000 multi-family units, including urban high-rise properties, power centers and other retail shopping centers, office buildings, and large single-family developments.


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Consumer spending, the bellweather of the nation's current economic recovery, has perked up again.
That's good news for Administration officials, who in this election year had proudly pointed to the strong pace of consumer buying—at least until April. At that point, a two‐month shopping hiatus set in, signaling a depressant on second‐quarter gross national product totals. But the resurgence started in June. which will tend to make the quarterly totals more palatable.
And it's good news for consumers, because retailers have been urging on the spending with some good old‐fashioned price competition—sales and more sales.
The only question is whether the current buying represents a return of the spending spree that developed strongly last winter and extended through March —or whether it's simply an aberration after the depressed results of April and may.
What happened in June Was that the nation's total retail sales showed a 12 percent gain over 1975 levels in each of five consecutive weeks. In the final June week, total sales were $12.57 billion, and department store sales were up 11 percent to $1.2 billion.
Then, the Commerce Department reported last week, total sales soared 14 percent in the first July reporting week, and department stores sales were up 19 percent.
John W. Kendrick, the new chief economist of the Commerce Department, makes his optimism about the figures clear.
“Given a continuous expan?? of income and of employment and the moderated trend of price dncrease,” he said, “I see no reason why we shouldn't get a resumed rate of consumer spending this summer.”
The data indicate “continuing. economic expansion and suggest that the spending pause in April and May was Just that,” he added, “It was a breathing spell, following, the sharp increase in retail sales since last November.”
But not everyone is quite so certain that the improved retail sales pace will sustain the nation's economic recovery. Among retailers, some express confidence in a more active buying mood among Americans. Others see the resurgence as a dramatic ex ample of how to lure custom es into stores by reducing prices—and suspect it may simply mean borrowing business from the month, or months, ahead.
Underlying the last three months’ sales trends are several factors which could support Mr. Kendrick's optimism—or rebut it. Among them are:
¶The fact that the recent sales increase has been heated up retailers’ anxiety to pare their high inventories by offering the public lower prices. This may rob the rest of the summer of at least some of its normal sale‐days business. But continuing high auto sales, and the public's response to strong “value” promotions, nonetheless indicate that the average American is still a very alive and aggressive consumer.
¶A buying pickup in major household durables — the major appliances, furniture and related “big‐ticket” merchandise. Household durables until the last few months had been one of the main laggards in general merchandise sales.
¶An apparent better selling pace for higher‐priced and more fashion‐oriented goods while lower ‐priced items. particularly in the so‐called “budget” departments, are lagging. From the sales point‐of‐view, this represents a successful appeal to discretionary income as opposed to income needed to cover essentials. “The basic cotton tee shirt is not moving as well as it used to because people have plenty, and basic tee‐shirt buyers are watching their dollars,” as a New York retailer said, “but tee shirts with fashion, novelty, piping, trims and so on are doing very well indeed.”
¶The absence this year of a Federal income‐tax rebate, which created a big boom in retail sales last spring that continued into the summer, appears to be the most im portant reason for so‐so sales in stable merchandise and in budget departments.
¶Despite increased consumer purchasing, inventories in the hand of America's retailers remain inflated, mainly because of the sluggish business in April and May. As a result, any retail companies will follow a cautious policy on buying for fall. “We cleared out merchandise to get ready for fall,” said a spokesman for the Allied Stores Corporation, one of the nation's largest department‐store chains. ‘It's better to have stocks high in May than in December. But our buying staff will be a lot more cautious for fall.”
Whether retailers will remain cautious in ordering new goods will, of course, depend on sales trends developing in the remainder of the summer.
But discussions with a cross‐section of merchants last week resulted in two basic predictions: more price cuts and pre‐season sales.
July will be a month of unusually heavy general clearances and other special sales in everything from bathing suits to digital watches.
Consumers may expect unusually heavy advertising even before the back‐toschool push. While sweltering in 90‐degree weather in many areas of the country, many a shopper will view with disbelief the ballyhoo for cold‐weather clothing and even snow tires. The expected inducement: price.
This has already begun. Paul Heller, president of the Carr Buying Office, a New York resident representative for some 140 out‐of‐town specialty stores, said that June sales among those stores included price cuts on women's coats for fall.
Sam Ruderman, president of Mutual Buying Syndicate, a major buying office in New York, reported that June business was up over May among his client stores but “much of it was due to clearances and sprinklings of fall goods at pre‐season savings.”
All of which raises the nagging question: What will he left to support the spending, and the recovery, in the next few months?


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Gaming is about to change drastically thanks to the announcement of the Microsoft gaming cloud division. This moves positions Microsoft to enter the streaming market, something Microsoft has been planning for some time. This move was not entirely surprising as Microsoft has been acquiring small companies, like PlayFab, which was previously focused on cloud based game development. Microsoft already has the basic structure of a cloud streaming service, Xbox Game Pass, which gives players access to a large library of games for just $10 a month.
Early versions at game streaming did not prove to be very useful, like OnLive, but the market is still quite intriguing. Sony's Playstation Now service is still a thriving service and the recent announcement of NVIDIA Geoforce Now will see a PC game streaming service. The Microsoft gaming cloud division does face a bit of an uphill battle in entering the market, but if it is able to accomplish a polished service it could change the way the gaming market is handled.
Image Credit: Microsoft
The Microsoft Gaming Cloud Division is Hoping to Change the Market
1. Cloud Gaming - Disruptive innovation opportunities lie in developing seamless and high-quality game streaming platforms.
2. Streaming Market - There is potential for disruptive innovation and market growth in the field of game streaming services.
3. Cloud-based Game Development - Opportunities exist for disruptive innovation in creating cloud-based game development tools and platforms.
1. Gaming Industry - The gaming industry can benefit from embracing cloud gaming and streaming services, revolutionizing the way games are played and accessed.
2. Technology Industry - The technology industry has the potential to disrupt the gaming market by developing advanced cloud gaming solutions and infrastructure.
3. Entertainment Industry - The entertainment industry can explore disruptive innovation by integrating cloud gaming services into their offerings, expanding the reach and accessibility of games.


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Today, PlayStation has announced that a new episode of State of Play will be coming on May 9. State of Play is PlayStation’s answer to the Nintendo Direct and Inside Xbox that covers everything from the world of PlayStation with updates and announcements. Here’s what they have to say about what’s in store for the next episode: “PlayStation Worldwide Studios will be showing off an extended look at MediEvil, as well as a first look at a new title. And we’ll have other updates and announcements from upcoming PS4 games
MediEvil was announced at back at the last PlayStation Experience in 2017. Similar to the N Sane Trilogy of Crash Bandicoot, MediEvil is a remake of the PlayStation 1 game. The game is a hack and slash adventure game that tasks you to protect the Kingdom of Gallowmere from the evil sorcerer Zarok. With an extended look coming on the State of Play, it’s very likely that the game gets a release date which was stated as 2019 in the trailer released on Halloween.
The first State of Play featured a focus on PlayStation VR titles with the announcement of Marvel’s Iron Man VR and new looks at Blood & Truth and No Man’s Sky which gets a VR mode with the upcoming Beyond update.
The first look at a new title could be a lot of things. It could and may very well be a new game not announced yet or it’s possible that it is the new Ubisoft game that was teased to be revealed on the same day.
One of the things that PlayStation made a note of was how long the upcoming episode will be. PlayStation has said that it’s going to be a quick show that will clock in at around 10 minutes. Another thing that PlayStation has said is in regards to the next-generation. PlayStation said “don’t expect any updates relating to our next-generation plans this time. Sorry!
While it may be disappointing to some, this makes sense after getting the news that the PlayStation 5 will be launching sometime after April 2020.
The next State of Play takes place on May 9, 2019, at 3:00 pm PT.


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Talabat and Carrefour have joined forces to allow customers to do their grocery shopping on the food delivery app.
“With Talabat being one of the most frequently-used apps in the region, this innovation drives further convenience for users in Qatar, making everyday life easier. Talabat’s partnership with Carrefour is also the first time a food delivery platform in the region has offered a complete grocery delivery option,” a press statement notes.
The new Talabat Grocery service is available as part of Talabat’s existing app, under a new filter card named ‘Grocery’.
Since the launch of Carrefour on Talabat, the platform has seen a growth in demand for different categories, including packaged snacks, fresh fruit and vegetables, as well as staple foods such as milk, eggs and bread, the statement points out.
Talabat Grocery users will benefit from the platform’s advanced network of delivery logistics, receiving their order of convenience groceries via Talabat Go drivers to their doorstep.
“Talabat has become a go-to food ordering and delivery solution in Qatar. Through our partnership with Carrefour, we aim to make life more convenient for customers in another way, by delivering a large variety of groceries to their doorsteps,” said Talabat Qatar managing director Francisco De Sousa.
“At Carrefour, we strive to deliver seamless shopping experiences, no matter how our customers choose to shop with us,” said Laurent Hausknecht, country head of Carrefour in Qatar.
“Talabat is a leader in food delivery, a space that we are working with them in other markets and therefore are pleased to be strengthening our relationship by extending the grocery service to include Qatar. With more purchases being made online than ever before, together we are adapting to this trend by giving customers easy access to a wide variety of high-quality products. We look forward to serving customers nationwide and taking our brand promise of creating great moments for everyone, every day to their doorstep.”
User experience lies at the heart of Talabat Grocery, and customers purchasing their shopping through the app will receive the same variety, quality and product freshness they have come to expect from Carrefour, the statement adds.
Users can also take advantage of the same promotions and discounts they would receive if shopping in-store. With over 2,500 Carrefour products listed on Talabat, customers in Qatar have a wide range of categories available to them. Categories include food items such as fruit and vegetables, dairy and eggs, and frozen and canned goods, alongside household goods and personal care items. A selection of Carrefour’s popular Food2Go meals is also available.
Talabat has also launched dedicated technological functionality to support grocery ordering. This ensures a “smooth and convenient ordering process” for customers. Besides, the company has invested in new logistical infrastructure to ensure that groceries can be delivered quickly and easily. The Talabat Grocery service is now available on the Talabat app and website.


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Guilford: Artistry: American Crafts for the Holidays opens Nov. 1
GUILFORD: Guilford Art Center announces its much-anticipated annual event, Artistry: American Crafts for the Holidays, Nov. 1-Jan. 4. One-of-a-kind, handmade crafts by more than 250 artists from across America will be featured, including ceramics, glass, jewelry, fiber, ornaments, accessories, toys, specialty foods, and more.
During Artistry, works spill from the shop into the gallery at the center, making for a bountiful and festive display of fine craft objects.
An opening reception will be held Nov. 6, from 5-8 p.m. with free admission, shopping and refreshments. From Nov. 1-6, members receive 15 percent off all items and 10 percent during the remainder of the sale. Join at any time and receive this benefit.
Proceeds from Artistry benefit the exhibiting artists and Guilford Art Center’s educational and community programs. Hours are Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m., Sunday 12-5 p.m. Guilford Art Center is located at 411 Church Street, Guilford, exit 58 off I-95. For more information call 203-453-5947 or visit www.guilfordartcenter.org.


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OnlyFans had made its name for NSFW or adult contests in the past. With it’s reputation, OnlyFans finds itself in trouble if they were to launch an app on Google Play Store and Apple App Store.
To work around that, OnlyFans had announced that they will be releasing an app with no nudity and is safe-for-work (SFW) for the public.
The new app created by OnlyFans is called OFTV and they offers videos featuring many of OnlyFans biggest stars.
According to Bloomberg, the app was originally made available to OnlyFans creators and subscribers but they are now promoting it to a wider audience. They even boasts about their library of more than 800 videos from more than 100 creators such as Mia Khalifa, Bella Thorne and Holly Madison.
The app also offers original videos from pilates instructors, chefs and podcasters. The app is available on all the major devices, including iOS, Roku and Amazon Fire.
“OFTV provides a super convenient way for fans to watch content from favorite creators.” the CEO of Only Fans, Tim Stokely said.
Stokely also stressed that there will be no adult content on OFTV and it is not being monetized. Despite that, he said that there is no direct impact to the creators’ earnings.
Meanwhile, Stokely added that this new app is part of OnlyFan’s strategy to shed its reputation as a purveyor of pornography and rebrand itself as a vital tool for all online creators.
According to The Verge, there is also a flagship series on the app called “Unlocked”, where the features exclusive interviews with OnlyFans creators such as former pornographic actress Mia Khalifa, and actress and director Bella Thorne.
The new app also offers other contents such as lessons in dancing, cookery, meditation and surfing, as well as various vlogs and video recordings of podcasts.
Although the OnlyFans brand still holds the reputation for adult content, it undoubtedly has a huge presence on the Internet. Last December, it had reported to have over 1 million creators, over 85 million users and is generating around $2 billion (≈RM8.5 billion) in annual sales, where Only Fans takes only 20% of the sales as their income, netting it to $400 million (≈RM1.7 billion).
It is also reported that OnlyFans is currently working to attract investors to make more money in the SFW scene, where they are aiming to create a kind of YouTube-Cameo hybrid, a place for celebrities and athletes to connect with fans.
Nonetheless, Stokely is confident at OFTV is able to become more mainstream, but it is unclear if OnlyFans will be able to make a difference to its reputation.
What do you think about this? Share our thoughts!


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Home owners are cutting back
Tough economic times have forced South African consumers to curb spending not only on nice-to-haves but also on basic home maintenance and upgrades.
A recent survey by FNB shows that the percentage of home owners who are investing in value-adding upgrades has dropped from 26% in the third quarter of last year to 22.5% in the second quarter of 2016.
FNB property strategist John Loos says the start of a decline in the level of costly upgrades makes sense considering the current almost recessionary economic conditions. Consumer confidence has taken a knock as people become increasingly concerned about the weak economic and unstable socio-political environment. More worrying, however, is that home owners seem to be neglecting the maintenance of their properties. The percentage of home owners spending money on basic maintenance (as opposed to upgrades) declined from a high of 37.5% in the third quarter of 2014 to 21% in the second quarter of 2016.
Loos says the decline suggests a rise in the levels of financial stress. He says the reduction in maintenance to preserve the value of properties is also evident in the recent sales figures of hardware, paint and glass retailers. Sales in this category grew by a mere 0.5% year on year for the three months to April 2016, a considerable slowdown from the 9.6% high recorded in April last year. However, Loos says current home maintenance and upgrades remain significantly higher than 2008-2009 recession levels.